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Showing posts with label israeli - ethiopian fusion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label israeli - ethiopian fusion. Show all posts

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Nadav Haber - Summer Song [2014] [israel+ethiopia]






Nadav Haber - Summer Song







         Nadav Haber started to learn the clarinet at the age of 10. In 1988-89 he lead a qaurtet in the Tel-Aviv clubs in Israel, and played in a blues duo. In the 90's nadav has switched to the tenor sax, and began to explore Ethiopian music

       He played in Ethiopian dance bands all over Israel, in Ethiopian clubs and weddings. This has lead to the issue of Ethiopian Blues, and other smaller productions that were aimed at the Ethiopian Israeli market. In recent years Nadav moved back to playing jazz, and in 2003 led a hard bop quintet in Jerusalem. He is currently working on two projects - an Ethiopian Jazz program and a “Favorite ballads” program.




01 - Nadav Haber - Summer Song (4:37)
02 - Nadav Haber - Ambassel (5:45)
03 - Nadav Haber - Blue Morning (4:26)
04 - Nadav Haber - Morning Coffee (4:45)
05 - Nadav Haber - Goodbye Romance (4:39)
06 - Nadav Haber - In a Spanish Mood (Malaguena) (5:09)
07 - Nadav Haber - Yes, He Will ! (5:52)
08 - Nadav Haber - No More Heartache (5:31)
09 - Nadav Haber - Nanu Nanu Jazz (6:13)
10 - Nadav Haber - Lake Tana Blues (5:34)
11 - Nadav Haber - From Wollo to Madrid (4:55)




Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Ras Deshen - From Ethiopian Music to Contemporary Jazz [2006]


                        R  E  U  P  L  O  A  D  


       Given the considerable number of African Jews living in Ethiopia, it makes perfect cultural sense for Israeli pianist Yitzhak Yedid to team up with Ethiopian sax man and vocalist Abatte Barihun to explore the music of Ethiopia on Ras Deshen, a work which mines the common musical ground shared by their countries. Yedid and Abatte performed selections from the disc recently at a reception at Alice Tully Hall and didn’t let the crowd’s lack of attentiveness diminish the passion of their playing.





                  'Ras Dashen Duo' Abate Berihun & Yitzhak Yedid in concert


       The opening “Anchi Hoye,” written by Abatte, is named for one of the four modes of Ethiopian music. Abatte plays the tenor with a measured tension and clear tenderness that manages to reference both Pres and Trane. Yedid’s brooding timbre, interior dialogue and chord progressions are so reminiscent of Keith Jarrett that his solo could be dropped seamlessly into the grooves of The Köln Concert.



       On “Batti,” Abatte enhances his soprano saxophone with soaring vocals in Amharic. When he performed this song at the reception, his voice cut through the conversation and, at least momentarily, demanded everyone’s attention. Abatte’s tenor on “Yehar Shererit” has a palpable R&B/gospel tinge, with an occasional gutbucket growl added for good measure, working in tandem with Yedid’s playful boogie-woogie chaos. “Fikir” is a beautifully ruminative discourse that sounds quite Middle Eastern in its execution, with Abatte’s serpentine tenor weaving around Yedid’s lush, symphonic piano riffs.





       Yedid lays out on “Birtukane,” giving the floor to Fentahon Malessa on krar, an Ethiopian lyre that sounds close to a guitar and gives the music another rich dimension. On “Ambassel,” another modal tune, Abatte solos powerfully over Malessa’s repeated figure. Yedid lays out again and one can only wonder how all three instruments would have sounded together.



       Perhaps the disc’s most arresting tune, however, is “Behatito Kadus Kadus.” With Yedid vamping in a Fats Waller vein, Abatte lifts his voice again and could be singing about a hellhound on his trail, instead of invoking a prayer. Abatte’s tenor grooves between Ethiopia and the Mississippi Delta, ending this excellent disc on a high note.




Personnel: 

Yitzhak Yedid: piano; 

Abatte Barihun: saxophone and voice; 
Fentahon Malessa: krar.





RAS JAZZ
Barry Davis Aug. 1, 2002

Ethiopian jazz band Ras Deshen hopes to take their music to new heights in the Holy Land. Barry Davis gets a lift

The terms "Ethiopia" and "jazz" may not, initially, appear to be the most comfortable of bedfellows. Most people naturally associate music from anywhere in Africa with driving tribal rhythms. Then again, jazz is essentially a form of black music introduced to the Western world by artists who originated from Africa.

Addis Ababa-born saxophonist Abate Berimun, the first and, to date, only Ethiopian jazz musician in Israel, will demonstrate the accuracy of that juxtaposition when he leads a performance by the Ras Deshen band this Tuesday at the Jerusalem Cultures Center as part of the Israel Jazz Showcase series dedicated to promoting Israeli jazz. Abate will be supported by pianist Yitzhak Yedid and Maleseh Fantahon, who will play the krar - a sort of small African harp.

In fact, Abate has several strings to his musical bow. "He can play numerous types of music from Ethiopia," explains Moshe Bar-Yudai, former chairman of the National Arts Council (Omanut La'am) and the driving force behind an ongoing project to establish an Ethiopian Jewry Heritage Center in Rehovot.

"Each region of Ethiopia has its own musical traditions. There is also the Christian liturgical style, which is similar to the Jewish liturgical form. Abate plays both and many more."

Apparently, the catchphrase-oriented world of the latter part of the 20th century was able to accommodate improvised music from Abate's homeland too, and the term "Ethiojazz" came into being in the late Sixties when musicians like Addis Ababa resident Mulatu Astatqe and Cameroon jazz superstar Manu Dibango were putting out a captivating mix of indigenous African music seasoned with soul, salsa and other black rhythms.

When Abate arrived in Israel in late 1999 he was already an established star in the Ethiopian jazz firmament. He had toured Europe many times over a period of 10 years and was a regular feature of the jazz shows put on by the Hilton and Sheraton hotels in Addis Ababa.

He first picked up a saxophone at the age of 17. He says he does not come from a particularly musical family, although he has fond memories of his father's closet vocal prowess. He was initially inspired to take up an active interest in music by his neighbors.

"There was a military brass band that used to practice just down the road from my house," Abate recalls. "I could hear them from my room. I loved the sound of the wind instruments and the saxophones." Suitably bitten by the musical bug, Abate got his hands on a saxophone and found his way to the music school in Addis Ababa. It was there that he began to take his new love seriously. "I did it all myself," he says.

"I told my mother I was going to the music school but my father used to spend a long time away from home and he didn't know about it at the beginning."

Abate's father first discovered his son was a budding musician when Abate invited him to one of his first gigs. "I remember that so well," says Abate. "As soon as my father heard me play he began jumping up and down with glee. He was so happy and proud of me."

The music school not only provided Abate with formal training in jazz, it also allowed him to listen to records of some of the legendary masters, like Charlie Parker. "We had some records at home when I was growing up, but they weren't jazz. My father worked with the Italians before World War II and he got hold of albums by Frank Sinatra and some Italian singers. That was all. But I could get hold of jazz records when I was at the school."

BEFORE LONG Abate had become proficient and confident enough to be able to strut his stuff in public, and he soon secured regular work at the Hilton and Sheraton hotels in the Ethiopian capital. "I played there every day for eight years," Abate says.

Those gigs also provided him with an opportunity to meet tourists from abroad who sometimes brought jazz records with them. There were also occasional visits by foreign jazz artists, such as Manu Dibango, and Abate was able to hone his skills in the company of far more experienced fellow professionals.

When he was 21, Abate began touring Europe with his own band and, until he moved here eight years later, he went on the road for several weeks three times a year visiting Sweden, Holland, Germany, England and France. He says it was quite an experience, for all concerned.

"It was wonderful to see places outside Africa, and the Europeans were excited to hear the music we played. But we worked hard. We generally played five days a week every week for three months." Abate's last European tour ended just three weeks before he came on aliya.

However, since arriving in the Promised Land, his professional fortunes have changed dramatically - for the worse. Initially lacking local language skills - he now speaks Hebrew reasonably well - and unable to find regular work as a jazz musician, he resorted to almost all manner of menial work to keep body and soul together. For a long time he worked a daily shift as a restaurant dishwasher in the morning followed by an all-night shift as a security guard.

"The dishwashing was ruining his hands," says Bar-Yudai, "so we decided to do something." That help came in the form of a small stipend, organized through the Ethiopian Jewry Heritage organization, to enable Abate to get by just on his nocturnal work. "When I was doing both jobs I couldn't practice or perform. I didn't have the time or the strength," says Abate.

Not that things are exactly rosy now. "It's still hard for me to practice." And Abate's compositional efforts are not helped by not having ready access to a piano.

However, one leading member of the local music community, veteran rocker Ariel Zilber, has given Abate some much needed stage time and occasional public exposure. "Ariel has helped me a lot," says Abate. "I've played with him all over the country." The Zilber-Abate synergy also produced a number called "Ethiopian Song," which has been performed on television, in Hebrew and Amharic.

Despite his daily hardships, and drastic drop in professional standing, compared with his life in Ethiopia, Abate remains hopeful that things will work out in the end and that he will be able to make a living here as a full-time musician. His current project with pianist Yedid promises to bear fruit. Besides the forthcoming show, the two are working on a CD based on a mix of Yedid's classically based avant-garde material and Abate's blend of jazz and African strains. The latter include various Ethiopian modes or scales, with names such as Ambasel, Amchihoya, Batti and Tezita, all of which are used for ballads.


Yedid, who spends some of his working hours running Jerusalem's Swedish Chef venue for original jazz music and Third Stream music, is delighted to have the chance to work with the Ethiopian. Yedid and Abate were originally brought together by radio presenter and ethnic-music expert Shlomo Yisraeli.

"Shlomo suggested I do something with Abate," Yedid says. "We got together and we hit it off musically right from the start. I felt he was an amazing musician. He is a jazz artist but he adds African scales. He plays in an Ethiopian style on an instrument which isn't at all Ethiopian."

The Yedid-Abate chemistry worked so well that they were in a recording studio after just two rehearsals. Thus far, they have recorded five tracks as part of the album they hope to complete in the not too distant future. Yedid does have some experience of working with Ethiopian musicians, but he says playing with Abate is a different kettle of fish.

"I played with a couple of singers a few years ago, but this is a much more serious proposition. Abate is an improviser. He has a very special sense of musical structure - a very long structure. He can play for a long time, it's almost like Indian music."

Yedid feels that Abate has something he has never encountered with any other jazz musician he has worked with. "You can feel his African roots. He is almost meditative in his way of playing." By all accounts, it looks like next week's show should provide Jerusalem music lovers with a remarkable experience. Let's hope there will be plenty more from Abate before too long. 


Monday, October 14, 2013

Idan Raichel - The Idan Raichel Project [israel+ethiopia] [2007]


   R   E   U   P   L   O   A   D   

                                 
     ...Fusing together Yemenite, Moroccan, Ethiopian, Indian, and Arabic folk music with reggae and ambient, Raichel has created a new genre filled with so much energy, spirituality, and passion. Labeled "Israeli-Ethiopian Fusion", this new and increasingly popular genre has led Raichel's first two albums to reach multi-platinum....


      The Idan Raichel Project is the brainchild of Israeli keyboardist, composer, producer, and arranger Idan Raichel, who invited over 70 different musicians from a wide variety of backgrounds to participate in the recordings. In particular, Raichel has long been fascinated by the music of Israel's growing population of Ethiopian Jews, and many songs feature members of Israel's Ethiopian community. The recordings also include Arab musicians, traditional Yemenite vocalists, a toaster and percussionist from Suriname and a South African singer, among others.

                                              

                       Idan Raichel Project - Bo'ee, Come With Me



        The Project released its first album in Israel in 2002 and quickly became one of the biggest success stories in the history of Israeli popular music. The haunting Ethiopian chorus of the first single, "Bo'ee" (Come With Me), sounded completely unlike anything most Israeli's had heard before. The groundswell of interest propelled the album to heights rarely seen in the local music scene and firmly established Idan Raichel as a new type of Israeli pop star. Now a musical icon in the Israeli community worldwide, The Idan Raichel Project has performed to sell-out crowds in prestigious venues in Paris, Brussels, New York, Los Angeles, Singapore and beyond.



         The international release of The Idan Raichel Project's recordings on the new record label Cumbancha promises to introduce a wide new audience to the electrifying work of this unique musical collective. The Project offers a new vision for how Israelis, their neighbors in this volatile region, and people all over the world, can cherish their individual cultural traditions, celebrate their differences and through respectful collaboration create new and inspiring expressions. "Our ability to live in peace with one other depends on our learning to appreciate and respect each other's differences," notes Idan. "The way forward is not by trying to change your neighbor, but by accepting him and recognizing that we are all looking for the same things in life: bread, water, spirit, respect and love."


Interview : The Idan Raichel Project >>




       The songs in Amharic and other African languages include Ayal-Ayale, Brong Faya (Burn Fire), and Siyaishaya Ingoma (Sing out for Love), and all have a great Afro-beat and tribal feel to them. Ayal-Ayale can also be viewed on IdanRaichelProject[dot]com. The only Arabic song on this CD is Azini. Boasting an incredible female voice from Mira Anwar Awad, an Arab Israeli from Haifa, Azini is a kind of folkloric-sounding song fused with ambient mixes, creating a magical piece that mesmerizes the senses.


01. Bo ee (Come With Me) (4:26)
02. Mi Maamakim (Out Of The Depths) (5:51)
03. Ayal-Ayale (The Handsome Hero) (3:35)
04. Hinach Yafah (Thou Art Beautiful) (4:53)
05. Im Tachpetza (If Thou Wisheth) (3:58)
06. Shuvi El Beyti (Come Back To My Home) (3:54)
07. Im Telech (If You Go) (2:47)
08. Be Yom Shabbat (On Sabbath) (3:34)
09. Brong Faya (Burn Fire) (4:05)
10. Ulai Ha Pa am (Maybe This Time) (2:39)
11. Azini (Comfort Me) (4:26)
12. Siyaishaya Ingoma (Sing Out For Love) (3:30)